


Sleep Aid

by TheSpaceCoyote



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, Lack of Sleep, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension, rival CEOs au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 04:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14370873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceCoyote/pseuds/TheSpaceCoyote
Summary: Rival CEOs Rhys and Jack, thanks to clerical error, have to share a hotel room.Anda bed. Neither are too pleased about this, especially when it turns out Jack has problems sleeping.





	Sleep Aid

**Author's Note:**

> Just a rival CEOs prompt for: "it's four in the morning, why are you still up?"

Rhys had long learned the importance of a good night’s sleep.

The benefits went on and on—not only did it elevate his mood and energy, but it also gave his skin that healthy glow and helped him keep his trim figure. And as an omega kicking ass in the alpha-dominated world of business management, he needed to keep sharp and sexy if he wanted to stay at the top and put nay-sayers in their place.

So having his sleep routine disturbed by the presence of Handsome Jack, thanks to the incompetence of the resort staff, pissed him off.

He was  _supposed_  to get a beautiful suite, complete with a kitchen and jacuzzi bath tub and a view of the elegant seaside town beneath the huge hotel. And Jack was supposed to be somewhere else in his own room, throwing his clothes and toiletries everywhere or jerking off in front of a mirror or whatever it was uncouth, self-centered alphas like himself did.

But no. And no matter how viciously Rhys had threatened the front desk staff, they hadn’t budged on the room arrangement, insisting all others were similarly booked with people who held equal clout to Rhys. They  _had_  eventually offered one of the cheaper rooms that had been vacated this morning, but the thought of Jack enjoying  _his_  penthouse suite while Rhys scrubbed himself in a normal, non-bubbling bathtub convinced him to bite the bullet.

Sharing a room—a  _bed_ —with Jack was not ideal. In fact, sharing a bed with  _any_  alpha he wasn’t interested in was not ideal, but Jack especially. Their relationship had always been  _rocky_ , even if lately things had thawed a bit between them, to the point where Rhys was considering partnering with Jack on the new line of shields. People could joke all they wanted about how the potential partnership meant Rhys was “sleeping with the enemy” but it was never supposed to be something  _literal_.

But both he and Jack refused to sleep on either the floor or the couch, with Rhys citing the potential discomfort cramping his posture and Jack aggressively shutting the idea down thanks to his bloated pride. They’d both stayed awake as late as they could, but the stress of the day’s travel and unexpected turn of events soon wore down the both of them, and with the full day of conferences looming in the morning, they found themselves gravitating towards sleep.

Rhys had insisted the resort staff bring them extra blankets, refusing to share with Jack, lest the handsy alpha think he could try to touch Rhys in his sleep. Jack’s protest at what he felt were an unjust stereotype did little to sway Rhys’ mind, and as he laid down to bed in his favorite pair of silk blue pajamas, the omega aggressively wrapped himself up in as many comforters as possible, desperate to create a warm cocoon Jack’s presence couldn’t hope to penetrate.

“Jeez. Looking at you, you’d think I was  _contagious_  or something,” Jack grumbled as he pulled his sweater up over his heat, leaving yellow and black boxers as his only form of clothing. Rhys huffed, snuggling against his pillow as he turned his back to the alpha.

“Might as well be…” he grunted as he snapped his sleep mask over his eyes, shutting out the light—and Jack—even if he couldn’t quite ignore the alpha’s musk as his weight settled in the bed besides him. Rhys gritted his teeth as Jack turned and shifted, trying to get a good position. He bit back an angry retort as the alpha flopped about, sending shudders through the entire bed frame, and tried counting imaginary skags in his head to distract himself from Jack’s restlessness.

 _Finally_ , the alpha seemed to settle down, and Rhys would have breathed a sigh of relief if he wasn’t already dancing on the edge of slumber, so he merely relaxed into his cocoon of blankets and sunk into his own little world, soon nicely wrapped up in sleep.

* * *

Rhys was rudely awoken some time later by a rough  _thump_.

He jolted, grabbing for his silk mask and ripping it off his eyes. His time as a CEO had given him hair-trigger reactions, and for a moment he forgot that he wasn’t sleeping alone like he usually was. After a moment’s racing thoughts and brief activation of his ECHOeye’s defense system, he realized Jack’s side of the bed was empty and quickly identified the probably source of the thump.

Rhys didn’t find the alpha on the floor on the other side of the bed, though, and after a moment’s hesitation—in which he dwelled on the importance of sleep versus his frustrating, persistent stake in Jack’s well-being against his own personal interest—shuffled around the bed.

The golden crack of light underneath the bathroom door quickly drew Rhys to Jack’s “hiding” place. After listening for a brief moment and picking up nothing more than snuffling breaths and soft curses, Rhys nudged the door open as gradually as he could muster.

The slight movement  _still_  startled the alpha, nearly knocking him off the perch he’d found on the toilet lid. Jack lashed out with a yelp, elbow nearly crashing into the toiletries placed atop the sink counter.

“Wh—that the  _hell_ , Rhys at least frikkin’ knock first!”

“ _Jack_ ,” Rhys hissed, his irritability bleeding even though his whisper, “it’s  _four in the morning_ , why are you still up?”

Jack slowly relaxed from his startled position, rolling his eyes blearily at the omega.

“What do you care?”

Rhys slipped fully into the bathroom, nudging the door half-closed behind him.

“I care because you woke me up, idiot. Besides, we have a full schedule that starts in a couple of hours. If you’re dozing off the other CEOs are going to eat you alive.”

He brushed past Jack to sit at the rim of the tub, leaning forward on his knees.

“So why are you awake?”

“I dreamed about big juicy omega asses bouncing in my face and woke up with a boner, so I came in here to take care of it so  _you_  wouldn’t get the wrong idea. So can you leave me  _alone_  now?”

“Unless getting a boner makes you cry….no.” Jack bristled, quickly grabbing a wad of toilet paper and scrubbing at his eyes.

“Screw you, kiddo, I’m not  _crying_ , I just….I was  _sleepy_ not crying, you nosy little  _idiot_.”

Jack’s watery eyes and bloodshot sclera might actually be due to lack of sleep, but Rhys wasn’t totally buying it. Pushing Jack to admit what had startled him into wakefulness would probably end in an argument, though, and Rhys cared more about dragging Jack back to bed so he wouldn’t be awoken by more of the alpha’s restless antics.

“Again…if you don’t get yourself some proper sleep, you’re just going to be an embarrassment at the panel tomorrow. Didn’t you want Maliwan to partner with you on future projects? You’re not going to get there if you’re delirious in front of everyone.”

Jack sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he glared at Rhys sidelong.

“Yeah, well…sucks to be me, then. Never been good at getting back to sleep after….after I’ve already woken up.”

Rhys stroked his chin, trying to think of a solution. His nostrils flared, picking up on the smell of something soft and floral underneath the slightly distressed odor seeping from Jack. He noted the lighted plugin besides the toilet, the gentle scent of gardenia suddenly giving him an idea.

“You know…” Rhys started, tenting his fingers, “an omega’s scent and touch can be pretty soothing to alphas. Even without the presence of a bond, or even any kind of affection. It’s like…a natural relaxant for you guys.”

Jack frowned, dragging his hands down to his chin.

“What are you on about now, kiddo?”

Rhys carefully eased himself up from the rim of the tub, resting against the side of the sink cabinet as he looked down at Jack. He almost couldn’t believe he was proposing this, after his initial frustration at being forced to share a bed. But if Jack was going to be stubborn and worry him by staying up and screwing himself, then well—Rhys didn’t have much of an option other than to suck it up.

“I’m saying…maybe getting a nose full of omega scent and having something to hold onto might be the thing you need to get a proper night’s sleep.”

Jack blinked at him dumbly for a couple seconds, before his brows furrowed.

“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. I’d rather chug a handful of sleeping pills and chase it with whiskey than….than  _cuddle_ with you.”

Rhys rolled his eyes.

“First off.  _Way_  rude, old man. Secondly, it’s not ‘cuddling,’ consider me a non-lethal, alternative sleep aid to that aforementioned pill handful.” Rhys nudged Jack in the shoulder. “You know, it doesn’t have to  _mean_  anything. Unless of course, you want it to.” He teased with a wink.

“Shut up. If you want me to do this, you’re gonna have to stop acting like  _you_  want something else out of this.”

“Fine.”

With Jack finally convinced to give Rhys’ idea a try, the two CEOs soon found themselves retreating back to the bed. Rhys spread out the remnants of his blanket cocoon, allowing Jack into the comforters he’d been rubbing his scent all over for the past couple of hours. Charitably, Rhys ignored his blush as the alpha cuddled down into the inviting covers, though Jack stiffened when Rhys slid in next to him and maneuvered the alpha’s head to rest against his chest.

“This….this is a little  _intimate_  don’t you think?” Jack grumbled, but didn’t move. “You better not be recording this with your ECHOeye or I’m gonna punch your lights out.”

“ _Shhh_. Also, my scent is the strongest around my chest. Well, there and some other places, but I’m not letting you put your head on my dick.”

“Can you just….stop talking, please? How am I supposed to sleep if you keep….saying  _things_  that make it frikkin’ hard to relax?” Jack screwed his eyes shut, tugging the blankets over his shoulder. Rhys could heard him take steadily deeper inhales, Jack’s breath rustling over his silk pajama top. He bit back his retort, feeling sleep starting to pull him down too.

Rhys thought he heard Jack say something—he could feel it vibrate against his chest—but couldn’t quite make it out. He hummed softly, arm curling over Jack’s body in a loose embrace.

 _Oh well._  Rhys could ask him about it in the morning.


End file.
